The large monster collapsed atop the water and was about to sink when Wise quickly activated his spatial storage unit, trapping it within it.
Thankfully, the Dolodiles were floating above the water instead of sinking. He could take his time collecting them.
’Now for more concerning matters...’
He stunk!
It was not the petrifying type of smell that came from touching Dolodile spit, but that didn’t mean it was any better.
Wise was bathed in blood as well as disgusting, frog-soaked swamp water.
He gagged and began shaking the water off his body. "Ahh, damn it! How did I get this much on me?!"
With an angry sigh, he hurried over to where the bodies of different Dolodiles lay.
Swooosh!
His spatial storage unit began sucking them up, one by one. Wise went about collecting the corpses, until he finally took the last one, after which he left the swamp water.
As he arrived back on solid ground, Daphne frowned as the foul odour hit her, then she took a step back, looking to the side.
"We... we need to find a river..."
Wise sighed, but she was right. There was no way he could go around in this state.
"A river, huh..." Charlotte muttered as she stared ahead. "There should be one nearby."
"Then let’s not waste any time. I feel icky," Wise complained as the slimy water slowly flowed down his face and landed on his lips...
He jumped back, hurriedly wiping his face with his elbow, but all that accomplished was smearing more sludge on his face.
"Shit!"
He felt like cutting his head off and burning it.
Watching him with amused eyes, Daphne was unable to hold back her laugh. She giggled and then said, "Try not to touch anything else."
Wise glared at her from behind his shirt as he wiped his face.
Still sitting cross-legged, Charlotte ignored them and instead began chanting some strange words.
Then she waved her hand in the air, as though trying to bend the world to her will.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes but just kept staring ahead, her hazel eyes sparkling in the sunlight.
Then she turned to the side, her expression blank as she spoke. "There is a lake about a five minute walk east."
Wise stared in the direction she pointed and back at her. It seemed whatever daze she had experienced was a side effect of her powers, because she had now returned to her usual self.
It was the same when she did the reading—at that time, it was almost like she was a different person.
"I guess your shaman powers can be helpful sometimes. Let’s go," he said as he began walking in the direction.
"Sometimes? I’m the best shaman in the city!" Charlotte complained as Daphne offered her a hand.
She placed her hand on her shoulder as support to prevent putting too much pressure on the freshly healed knee.
"Hey! Wait up! Come and take back what you said!"
It took them seven minutes to get to the lake Charlotte had mentioned, partly because they had to slow down to match her pace.
The lake was beautiful. There was a serene atmosphere surrounding it, as though it was not a part of the treacherous middle ring.
There was not a single monster in sight, just the beautiful vegetation surrounding it, and a few animals that ran the moment they arrived.
Wise walked up to the lake and took a handful of the water.
The water was clean, crystal-like waters that slowly rippled as the wind played with its surface.
But although clean, it was terribly cold due to winter.
’I guess I’ll have to do something about that...’
Wise turned around and stared at the girls blankly, but they just stared at him, seemingly confused.
Then he waved his fingers in their direction, but they still didn’t get the memo.
Daphne and Charlotte glanced at each other before looking back at him.
The former’s eyebrows drew closer, shaking her confusion. "What?"
Wise sighed. "Shoo. Go away, I want to bathe in peace."
"Ohhh..." Charlotte voiced. "You should have just said so..." She then turned to Daphne.
"Come on, let’s leave him, he’s shy..." she said, her voice having a slight mocking tone at the end.
Wise slowly shook his head, Charlotte snickering as they left.
"Finally..."
"Now to get rid of these disgusting clothes."
Wise began taking off his clothes, starting with the shirt that clung to his skin like glue.
He peeled the fabric from his body and tossed it to the floor, followed by his trousers and shoes.
He glanced at the wet pile and grimaced. "Yup, I’m definitely burning those."
Thankfully, he had a spare in his spatial storage unit.
Then he walked toward the stream and placed a toe on the water. Immediately the water made contact with his skin, a tingling feeling like electricity shot up his leg, climbing onto his spine.
He winced, but then sucked a deep breath before jumping into the water.
Although he wanted to be clean, Wise had no intention of bathing in the freezing cold, so he encased his body in fire.
The blue flames clashed against the relentlessly cold lake, slowly warming up the water around him.
’Haaaa.’ Wise let out a satisfied breath just before he began vigorously scrubbing every inch of his body to get rid of the muck.
His hair, most especially, was his primary target. Using his fingers, he dug deep into his long strands to properly wash it.
Then he submerged himself in the water before bursting out and shaking his hair.
But when he opened his eyes, he saw a slight ripple in the river ahead of him.
Wise tried to blink the water away from his eye, before wiping his face with his hands.
Then he looked more closely...
It was still there—a slight ripple followed by bubbles that rose to the surface of the water.
There was something in there.
He summoned his sword, the blade reflecting the light, and slowly began swimming in the direction of the bubbling, his procession slow to avoid drawing attention to himself. For original chapters go to NoveI~Fire.net
’I’ve fought enough monsters for one day, damn it!’ Wise cursed.
He did not want to desecrate the lake with blood, but depending on what was there, he might be left with no choice.
He continued onward, but suddenly the bubbling stopped, and then the ripples ceased.
Whoosh!
The water in front of him rippled as a figure exploded out from in front of him, splashing water in his face.
Wise almost swung his sword, but he paused midway when he realized—it was not a monster.
"Haaaaa! I almost drowned!" the person said as they pushed back their short blonde hair before shaking their head slightly.
She turned around and smiled as her gaze met Wise’s. But then her eyes suddenly brightened, and she brought a hand over her mouth in shock.
"Wise? Who would have thought I would find you here?!" she laughed mirthfully as she placed her naked arm over his shoulders.
Wise ran his hand through his face and let out an annoyed sigh.
Of all people it could have been, it just had to be her...
"What are you doing here, Tyris?"